Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Why Prison Education Matters

Add to website or blog

Copy and paste the selected text

More than 2.2 million people are locked up in American prisons. About 700,000 prisoners are released into their communities every year, and approximately 40 percent of them will find themselves back behind bars within three years. But a landmark RAND study shows participation in any kind of educational program while behind bars can help break the cycle. RAND found that correctional education programs substantially reduced an individual's risk of being reincarcerated and that such programs are cost effective—every dollar invested in correctional education saves nearly five dollars in reincarceration costs over three years.

In collaboration with the Michelson 20MM Foundation, RAND invites you to listen to our panel of experts discuss the costs and benefits of using education to stop the prison revolving door, and the effectiveness of programs like The Last Mile, which prepares inmates for reentry by providing them with marketable skills.

Policymakers are considering how to reduce mass incarceration in the United States. Correctional education programs can help reduce recidivism and improve post-release employment outcomes. This saves taxpayers money.

Providing education and vocational training to inmates is a cost-effective way to reduce recidivism rates, thus shrinking prison populations and easing the strain on prison budgets. Education is far less expensive than incarceration.

Related Resources

Topics

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.